Hope II

Vertuga

I stood out in the open, gazing at the ship in wonder, my eyes intrigued by what floated before me, constantly docked into the rocky shore. 

Enormous in extremity, standing independently, showing the only sign of life in the desolate harbour town. No seagulls nor animals, no chirping or howling. Only the crashing of waves upon the shore. 

I stepped out onto the street with Sam, my arm wrapped around her waist for support, just in case I fell into a sudden weak state.  

My feet crushing the snow while I stared at the top deck to the patrolling guards, waiting for them to spot us, to see all four of us approach the ship.

Eventually they saw us and suddenly all the guards came to one side of the ship. Their shouts were silent down here, the distance between us was further than the height of a tall building. But I knew they were not addressing us peacefully, became clear when I saw a red dot on my chest and the guards staring down the scopes of their weapons, awaiting command to shoot. 

They stayed on us, we didn't move and they didn't shoot. Then, a loud sound came from afar, my attention drawn to the side of the ship where a door had opened to the narrow stairwell, and a dozen or so men came flowing out the door, armed with heavy weapons and hard armour, running down the stairway onto the snow beside the ship. They jogged towards us, staying in formation as they approached, standing still several metres away from us, their weapons aimed directly in our path constantly and the support of their men on the deck had us pinned down, helpless. There was nowhere left to run.

'Weapons on the ground!' one shouted 'Now!' I looked at him, the leader of the group presumably, his face shadowed in his mask. His entire body covered in armour and he spoke with brute force. 

I removed my pistol from the holster and placed it gently on the snow, all while staring at the masked leader, the eyes behind the mask looking at me, his gun lowered slightly but cocked up in an instant. 

'Names' he demanded 'NAMES!' This time it was a shout, an aggressive and ordering shout. 

My brother answered, shouting back to the man in a tone equally as brute 'Mark Brookes!' he yelled 'We mean you no harm' he said, stepping out in front of me to face the man head on.

The leader suddenly lowered his weapon to hip height before releasing it, allowing it to dangle from the fabric rope that kept it attached to his body. The action grabbed the surprise of all his men... and myself. 

He placed his hand on his mask, unclipped it from his helmet and removed it from his head... and the face both delighted and surprised me. 

'John' I said with a smile, Mark equally as happy to see the face he had almost forgotten. 

'John fucking Coffey!' Mark yelled. 

I looked at my high school principal, and Mark looked to his friend who quickly walked towards him. The two men met half way and threw their arms around each-others bodies, a hug that ignited what could be a new life... this place may be safe after all. 

John patted Mark's back, and then his eyes found mine, and when they did he spoke words that brought me back to the day when I met him in 2020, when he told me if I ever needed to, I could come find him, here. 

'You finally decided to take me up on that offer, eh?' he asked with a smile, breaking from Mark to approach me.  

I shook my head, completely taken back by surprise 'I hope that offer still stands' I said smiling to the aged face before me. Twenty years older yet it looks like he only aged for five. 

John grabbed my shoulder and gave me a brotherly hug, his hands hitting my back so glad to see me, and I so glad to see him. A familiar face in an obtuse place, one where we did not know to be safe or not... but now I feel safe knowing a friend is by my side.